I can't say Rand is even interesting enough for me to dislike, as a writer. She just seems like an amateur philosopher, someone who read one or two philosophers and then decided she had things figured out.

I am looking forward to reading The Invention of Morel, by Casares -- it seems to have derived some inspiration (directly credited in the name) from Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau and then gone in a more nuanced and mindbending direction. Borges sister, I believe, illustrated the cover of the original 1940 edition, and there seems to be a JL Borges influence in the story, as well. And Borges was a big influence, of course, on......Philip K. Dick. In a sense, the grandfather of "Lost" is Jorge Luis Borges. Anyone who doubts this assertion needs to read some of his stories -- try "Ficciones" for starters.

She just seems like an amateur philosopher, someone who read one or two philosophers and then decided she had things figured out.

That's a fairer assessment than mine, I admit. Or at least a more generous one. As a writer, I can hardly fault her wordsmithing - it's the shallowness of her randroid followers who seem to completely stop thinking once in the embrace of her simplistic "philosophy" that really get to me more than Rand herself.

Logged

"Those who would give up their freedom for security will have none and deserve neither."- Franklin (and Jefferson)

She just seems like an amateur philosopher, someone who read one or two philosophers and then decided she had things figured out.

That's a fairer assessment than mine, I admit. Or at least a more generous one. As a writer, I can hardly fault her wordsmithing - it's the shallowness of her randroid followers who seem to completely stop thinking once in the embrace of her simplistic "philosophy" that really get to me more than Rand herself.

I must point out that Tom (aka Mr. Friendly) on "Lost" last night is staying at the HOTEL EARLE. Coen Brothers fans may have noticed that this is the name of the creepy hotel in which Barton Fink attempted to court the Muse and rub shoulders with the Common Man.

I must also point out that the real Hotel Earle, down in the West Village, is now called the Washington Square Hotel. Bob Dylan lived there for a while, back in the sixties.

I also want to reflect for a moment on the song playing on the car radio when Michael is trying to kill himself on the docks. The song is "It's Getting Better" by Mama Cass -- we have heard Mama Cass before, down in the Hatch, when we are first introduced to Desmond in Season Two. Aside from the obvious irony of the song's theme at that moment, it also provides a kind of spooky link to the Island, as we are about to witness the Island's strange influence in terms of it not allowing Michael to kill himself. As Tom later says, "the island won't allow it."

"I must also point out that the real Hotel Earle, down in the West Village, is now called the Washington Square Hotel. Bob Dylan lived there for a while, back in the sixties."

Now, he tells us!

That's all right, I was out of there by the Sixties (in terms of permanence)but did go back to take a friend's children there by air who were too young to travel alone. At which time it would never have occurred to me to look up Bob Dylan who was then "positively 4thstreet" which is the lower left or west corner of Washington Square park.Anything as far away as the West Village would be an inappropriately named Washington Square Hotel. Still, this has caused me to ponder.

Why did he not take up residence at the Hotel Chelsea which was then as now replete with the artistically infamous as well as famous and far more resembles the creepy leftover auras of former guests as where Barton Fink holed up? Everyone is aware the Chelsea is haunted; which, unless I misunderstand was something that BF encountered. I remember feeling so sorry for John Turturro abiding in such a dive which was destined to prevent him from writing. Was it because he was trying to get into the Studios but he didn't yet qualify? I don't quite remember.

In any case, the impromptu trip back to Manhattan and deeper into the Lower East side to look at it for or from the residential point of view (since my friend was in residence there)was worthwhile; giving me the opportunity to meet my Haitian friend Wayrone Cohns when the migration from Haiti was mostly settling into Brooklyn.

Tom's gayness is old news, right? When he gives Kate clothes to change into, back when she and Sawyer are imprisoned in the bear cages, she asks him to look away and he says something like "oh, you're not my type" in a pretty unambiguous way.

How much sanctuary is there, really, at the The Temple shown on the map? It appears that the skeet shooters (who I'm assuming are now the extermination team, and came over on the chopper, which is no longer on the Kahana) are able to pick off Karl and Danielle en route and it seems likely they have pretty good maps, too. Widmore has clearly acquired several Hanso and pre-Hanso items and documents, in prior episodes. (though I use pre-Hanso only in the sense of pre-Dharma....a Hanso was apparently on board the Black Rock)

Is Danielle really dead? Can't wrap my head around that one, though I know people are going to be killed, we've seen the war coming for a while now. Just don't hurt Vincent.

I'm not 100 percent on this, but it appears from one glimpse that Michael's pawnshop revolver lacks a firing pin, which would allow a rational explanation for its not firing. In any case, there's no rational explanation for him running his car into the steel container at 100 mph and remaining basically intact. So, in at least one suicide attempt, pure paranormality reigns. (Desmond is the other major character who survives a physical trauma he really shouldn't, when the Hatch explodes, suffering only a blackout and nudity....both Desmond and Michael listen to Mama Cass...hmmm)

Finally, why the hell does Sayid put so much trust in Captain Gault?? He doesn't take two seconds to think it over before giving Michael up. Sayid usually shows a good head on his shoulders, but somehow this doesn't quite compute. Wouldn't the absence of the chopper at least give him a moment's pause?

Madupont, agree that the famous Chelsea would have been a good choice. I'm not really sure what, if anything, the choice of Hotel Earle signifies vis-a-vis Tom and his boyfriend. The name could have been chosen for its creepy aura deriving from the Coen brothers film --- which sort of makes an assumption about "Lost" viewers, perhaps.

One website says that the Earle had a reputation as something of a flophouse back in the day. At that time, Tom referring to "the penthouse of the Hotel Earle" would have been much funnier.

And here I was, Bart, thinking that last night's episode was one of the few in which more questions were answered than raised. Then you come along with all that analysis of stuff I hadn't noticed and skeet-shoot that naive notion right out of the air.

Desmond is the other major character who survives a physical trauma he really shouldn't, when the Hatch explodes, suffering only a blackout and nudity....

Do you mean after the plane crash which should have killed everyone on Flight 815?

Fully agree with you about "Just don't hurt Vincent," but don't forget the cat we saw in the episode dealing with Ben's childhood. Given the island's strange properties, it's probably still around and purring contentedly.

Oh, and Juliet. Don't hurt Juliet. If I had to pick one non-Oceanix-Six character to give an immunity idol to, it would be Juliet.

Maybe this observation has already been made many times by many people and I'm just late in noticing it, but it seems recently that the word "lost" has made its way into the script at least once in each episode. Does anyone know if that's been true the entire time the series has been running?

Also, thanks to Closed Captions, I noticed another literary work get a cameo. Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" was the answer to a quiz show question on TV in Michael's apartment.

Once again, I'll make my Closed Captions pitch: On a show as packed with detail as Lost, Closed Captions are vital. They're also useful for shows such as medical or crime dramas in which a lot of technical info is dispensed rapidly. The subtitles help the viewer better understand what's being said.